Mark wrote:
On Sep 12, 1:16Â*pm, wrote:
Mark wrote:
On Sep 12, 12:54Â*am, Jim Logajan wrote:
I was pretty sure that I'd seen somewhere that the price of typical
general aviation airplanes were, relative to median annual income, about
the same ratio as they had always been. I'm still not sure whether that
is true, but according to GAMA, another number, the historical price of
4 seat entry level airplanes (among others) has risen faster than the
cost of inflation, houses, or autos.

Pages 11 to 19 of this GAMA document are of particular note:

http://www.faa.gov/news/conferences_...onference_mate...

The document appears to be PDF coversion of a PowerPoint presentation,
so is missing explanations and references.

In 1971, the average family income was $9,870. [1]
The 1971 Cessna sold for USD$13,425 in the 172 version and USD$14,995
in the Skyhawk version.[2}

In 2010 the average family income was $46,242 [3]
A new 2010 Cessna Skyhawk costs about $297,000 [4]

THEREFORE...

In 1971 you'd pay 1.51 times the average annual salary
to get a new Cessna Skyhawk.

In 2010 you will pay 6.42 times your average annual
salary to get a new Cessna Skyhawk.

Any Questions??

---
Mark

1.http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/program.pl?ID=457822
2. wikipedia
3. U.S. census bureau
4.http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...4203648AAeYJkd

It has never been the "average family" that buys airplanes.

It has always been the people in the upper middle class and above, such
as doctors, dentists, lawyers, engineers, business owners, etc.

In the early 70's I was going to school while working at an avionics shop.

A big percentage of the customers were engineers from the local, and now
defunct, aerospace plant.

There were no bricklayers or painters with airplanes, but the guys that
owned the construction companies were owners.

--
Jim Pennino

Yes, and really if you think about it anyone who becomes
a pilot and buys a plane...isn't average. Of course you're
smart enough to realize I pulled that data to reveal the
shift in American buying power.

Actually, your data has nothing to do with buying power, that is measured
by the CPI, not wages.

In terms of 1971 dollars versus 2010 dollars, the 2010 Skyhawk costs 3.5
times what the 1971 model cost.

Of course in the 1971 Skyhawk the engine was smaller, didn't have fuel
injection, and just about all the standard avionics in the 2010 model
was an option in the 1971 model, and some didn't even exist.


--
Jim Pennino

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